Reverse air flow convertible household vacuum cleaner



June 23, 1953 A. s. BRowNE 2,642,616

REVERSE AIR FLOW CONVERTIBLE HOUSEHOLD VACUUM CLEANER Filed May 7, 1949 INVENTOR. 1S'. BROWJYE' lqforhey HB @HIE \.|l|H\h.. w1

Patented June 23, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT orrfor.'g

REVERSEAIR FLOW CONVERTIBLE HOUSE`' HOLD VACUUM CLEANER Archie S. Browne, Detroit, Mich. Application-May 7, 1949, Serial No; 92,012" I 3 Claims. (Cl.v 15.-337)' The invention pertains to convertible vacuum cleaners and more particularly tol small light weight vacuum cleaners for household use.

It is an object of my invention to provide-a vacuum cleaner which is especially advantageous for use in residence houses and apartments-because of its convenient lightweight construction.

It is also an object of the invention to utilize in such a vacuum'cleaner a reverse air flow principle for providing a very compact structure as well as providing a vacuum cleaner which is easily converted for use either as an upright or as a tank type vacuum cleaner.

It is a further object of my invention to provide such a useful light weight and compact vacuum cleaner in a structure which issimple and economical to manufactureand assemble.

Another object-of my invention is to provide such a small compact light weight vacuum cleaner having the same high power air impeller o means `as utilized in my larger vacuum cleaner.

Further objectsY and advantages are within the scope of the invention, such as relate to the arrangement, operation and function of the related elements of the structure, to various details of construction and to combinations of parts, elements per se, and to numerous other features'` as will be apparent from a consideration of the specication in conjunction with the drawing disclosing specific embodiments of the invention,

in which:

Fig. l is a side elevational View of the improvedv vacuum cleaner, with parts broken away and' sectioned to `show the end closure internal' structure and parts also being shown by dottedlines;

Fig. 2 is` a side elevational view. of? an alter'- native nozzle headembodying a rotaryy brush;

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of the vacuum cleanerV equipped\vith the head shown iniliig. 2.;

Fig'. 4 isf an elevational' view showing. the air` hose connector tubev and a. portion of the air; hose.; andA Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view` oni line? 5*-5in Fig. 1.

Referring more particularlyr to, Fig; l of the4 drawing it will be Iseen that Ichave. provided .fiori this vacuum cleaner a rugged body consisting: simply of a cylindrical member II. This; body'is closed at theV :ironty end by means of: a. nozzle head I3, which is` a disc-like plate adapted t' t upon the end of the body and having: an internal flange I fitting therein, where: it mayv be secured inany convenient manner, as by` screws for example. A nozzle bracket I.'I-1 ro;|eets forwardly from the upper portion of'y this end' 2f plate I3 and supports a= nozzle- I9 presenting a suctionV applying aperturef 2'I, which is preferably elongated horizontally, for movement over surfaces or'cbjectstobe cleaned.

The nozzle Iltis provided with a conduit aperture-23 which issada-pted, in any suitable manner as by a snug tapered t, to' receive the front end of' a suction conduit- 25' which passes back along the lower side' of the cylindrical body toward the otherA end bf'the body, which is closed, and this end of the conduit is-bent in-for connection and securement into' an orifice 2'Ifin the sidewall of the body. Actually there aretwo such conduits 25 passing along undera the body and spaced apart on opposite sides' of the center or bottom line ofthe-body Where these conduits serve also asV supports :holding-the body in a predetermined positionv when resting on the floor asgmay be seen in lig; 3". The nozzle- I9 of Fig. 1 is also elongated horizontally' and visalso provided with two conduit connection apertureson opposite ends or` sides, asy is the head shown in Fig. 3.

Such airflow conduits 2`5being of a suitable size for amplefair flow capacity, and being attached at" the ends-to the vacuum cleaner, also serve very'well-as-oor supports. And, if desired, additional spacers 2'8I and' attachment means 30 may be provided to connect between these conduitsA andV thei body forl greater strength and rigidity,

n otherv end of'I the motor shaft 3l extends back axially in the-body through anvopen work spider 33` where it drivesassociated air impeller means 35 for` drawing'air alongin the body toward the front-end". The'f open work spider 33 has a collar 39extending forwardly for'securement by screws 4I to brackets-43` projecting into the body from the front end plate I3 in cooperating relation for mountingthe electric motor. Bracket means may be secured in the body for supporting the ystators and cooperative parts of the air impeller, which may, ifdesired, bealso secured directly upon thev sidewalls of theouter body II, as will be readily understood. As will be apparent, the particular motorized'air impeller uti= lized is not critical or important and any suit= able unitmay beinstalled` for this purpose.

The arrows represent the air' ilow in Fig. '1, from which it' will be seen that after entering thenozzle slot 2|v the air ows back in conduits 25" and then-turns and enterstheother end of the body. From this point the air flow reverses and turns forwardly passing through the impeller 35, and then it is discharged laterally and downwardly from the body through a discharge port 41 provided in the sidewall of the body near the front end so that the air passes around the motor for cooling the motor and also it is discharged as remotely as possible from the person utilizing the vacuum cleaner.

To filter and clean the air any suitable filtering means 49 is mounted in the body Il in the space through which the air must pass after it enters the body from the conduit 25l and moves toward the air impeller at the front end. Such a filter means 49 may consist of a bag of any suitable material having a rim l 'of yieldable material, such as rubber, around its, open end where it is received on an inward flange 52 from by pulling out on the nob 59 for quick changer for operation either as an upright vacuum cleaner or as a tank type vacuum cleaner. VThe filter bagY 49 is easily removed for cleaning or replacement by releasing clips 6l and removing the cap 59. Also a second or auxiliary filter 1l is then conveniently accessible tor be removed, cleaned or replaced. This auxiliary filter 1 l vmay consist, for example, of a textile fabric associated together with screen wire, for support in a circular form, engaging a perforated ring or disc 13 secured in the body I l, adjacent to but slightly spaced from the impeller.

It will be seen that I have provided a compact, convenient, light weight vacuum cleaner of a -very simple construction, considering the wide adaptability thereof.

a filter holding ring 53 secured onY the sidewall J of the body, and whereupon it is removably pressed by a filter holding member 55 having an external periphery 51 of circular shape and Ysuitable size for clamping thereon. As shown, this filter holder 55 may be of a'generally bowl shape with its rim 51 projecting laterally for this purpose. rI'his bowl shaped filter holder member 55 has a central air passing orifice 55 andv it is supported Iby brackets on fingers 58 in an end cap 59, also termed a handle cap, which fits upon the rear end of the body Il, so that installing the cap on the body also` presses the rim 51 to hold and seal the rim of the filter bag upon the holding ring flange 52. The cap 59 is releasably secured on the rear end of the body in any suitable manner,V as by releasable clips 6l, which may be similar to suchclips commonly provided on suitcases. Two or three such clips are ample to firmly secure the cap on the body, and the cap preferably has a flange 63 which. fits into the end of the body for more secure fitting thereon.

The filter clamping hood or vbowl 55 being clamped upon the filter, and theend of the body I l being closed by the cap 59, the air owingin from the conduits passes through the orifice 55 and turns to move toward the front end of the body, in a reverse flow manner as represented by the arrows in Fig. 1. l Y

The cap 59 is provided with a central aperture l!)V opening axially therethrough into the body and this serves to receive and secure the stem 55 of any suitable handle'. To convertv the vacuum cleaner from an upright to a tank type vacuum cleaner, it is only necessary to pull out the handle and its stem 65 and insert therein an air hose connection 'tube B1, which is represented by dotted lines and partially broken away in Fig. l. This tube 61, being longer than the handle stem, also extends in through the air passing orice 56 in the filter holder 55. This plugs the air hose connector 61 in for connection through the filter to the air impeller and at the same time cuts off the air flow from the nozzle i9 through the conduits 25. The apertures 5G and 56l and the handle stem 55 and air hose connector tube 51 are, of course, made of suitable cooperative diameters for such interchangeable operation. And the hose connector tube S1 is of suicient length to extend out through the end cap and have an air hose 68 thereon for utilizing various accessories in operation as a tank type vacuum cleaner. c

The handle stem 65 and the hose tube 61 may be secured in the cap .53 by a suitalbe spring pressed retainer which mayubewquickly released cleaning nozzle.

Figs.'2 and 3 show an alternate head 15 which may be installed upon this vacuum 4cleaner when it is desired to provide a vacuum cleaner having a rotary brush in cooperative relation with the This head also has an end wall 'l1 which fitsupon and closes the front end of the body Il in air flow restricting relation except that a driving coupler 1S is rotatively disposed therein for operative connection from the extended front end of .the motor shaft 3l to a small belt pulley 8| in the head. From this small pulley 8l a belt B3 drives a large pulley 55 having a joined small pulley 81 from which a belt Se drives a pulley 9|, which is on the shaft 53 of the rotary brush 95 suitably journalled in the head to be rotated in cooperative relation in the slot S1 in the nozzle 98 for agitating surfaces for the eiiective cleaning, in a Well known, manner. This head hasV the pair of cond-uit connecting apertures or sockets 23 spaced on both sides for connection with the front ends of the conduits 25 which extend back in under the body l l, in` the manner previously described, except that these conduits are shorter and do not extend so far across the front end of the vacuum cleaner body. This headv has wall enclosure means 99 enclosing the driving and speed changing means, and providing a boss [Ell` with a bearing for the front end of a shaft |03 the other end being journalled in the end wall 11. Shaft m3 rotatively supports the joined pulleys and 81.

It is apparent that within the scope of my invention modifications and dilerent arrangements may be made other than herein disclosed, and the present disclosure is illustrative merely, the invention comprehending variations thereof.

What is claimed as the invention is:

1. In a small light-weight convertible vacuum cleaner, the combination of, a filter enclosing body cylinder having a discharge port opening laterally through the sidewall thereof near the front end, air flow obstructing Wall means on the front end of said body cylinder, a dirt co1- lecting nozzle projecting frontwardly from said wall means, motorized air impeller means mounted in the front end of said body cylinder for drawing air along4 toward the front end in said body cylinder and discharging it laterally through said discharge port, conduit means connected to draw air from said nozzle, said conduit means extending along the side of said body cylinder and opening through the sidewall of the cylinder near the rear end thereof, closure means closing the rear end of the body cylinder so that air is caused to flow rearwardly in said conduit means and then into the body cylinder and frontwardly toward the air impeller means, said closure means also forming an air hose plug-in to also serve as a floor rest to support said body l cylinder in a horizontally disposed position when operating as a tank type Vacuum cleaner.

2. A convertible vacuum cleaner comprising, a lter enclosing body of an elongated tubular conformation having a discharge port opening laterally through the sidewall near the front end thereof, air ow obstructing wall means on the front end of said body, a dirt collecting nozzle .projecting frontwardly from said wall means, motorized air impeller means mounted in said body for drawing air along toward the front end in said body and discharging it laterally through said discharge port, air conduit means connected to draw air from said nozzle, said conduit means extending along the side of said body from the front end toward the rear end and opening through the sidewall of the body near the rear end thereof, closure means closing the rear end of the body so that air is caused to ow rearwardly in said conduit means and then into the body and frontwardly toward the air impeller means, said closure means also being conformed for receiving an air hose connector for operation as a tank type vacuum cleaner, means for intercepting the air flow circuit or path from said nozzle and conduit means and establishing the connection of said air hose connector with the air impeller means for operation as a tank type Vacuum cleaner, said air conduit means extending along the side of said body being wide enough to engage the oor and to serve as `a floor rest when the vacuum cleaner is resting in a horizontal position for operation as a tank type vacuum cleaner, and further characterized by said conduit means consisting of a pair of air flow conduits suitably spaced apart to engage the oor and serve as a oor rest when the vacuum cleaner is disposed in a horizontal position for operation as a tank type Vacuum cleaner.

3. In a convertible vacuum cleaner, the combination of, a lter enclosing body cylinder having a discharge port opening laterally through the sidewall thereof near the front end, air iiow obstructing wall means on the front end of said body cylinder, a dirt collecting nozzle projecting frontwardly from said Wall means, motorized air impeller means mounted in the front end of said body cylinder for drawing air alongtoward the front end in said body cylinder and discharging l it laterally through said discharge port, conduit means connected to draw air from said nozzle, said conduit means extending along the side of said body cylinder and opening through the sidewall ofthe cylinder near the rear end thereof, a closure cap closing the rear end of the body cylinder so that air is caused to flow rearwardly in said conduit means and then into the body cylinder and frontwardly toward the air impeller means, said closure cap being conformed to also provide a central aperture suitable to serve as an air hose plug-in socket for receiving an air hose connector tube therein, a lter vholding bowl shaped member disposed in the rear part of said body cylinder and being centrally apertured for receiving the inner end of an inserted air hose connector tube intercepting the air flow circuit or'path from said nozzle and conduit means and establishing the connection of such a plugged-in air hose to the air impeller means through said filter holding member for operation as a tank type vacuum cleaner, said conduit means being wide enough to engage the floor and serve as a floor rest for the vac-uum cleaner resting `in a horizontal position, and further characterized by said conduit means consisting of a pair of air flow conduits suitably spaced apart to serve also as a floor rest when the vacuum cleaner is disposed in a horizontal position vfor operating as a tank type vacuum cleaner.

ARCI-IIE S. BROWNE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,167,219 Replogle Jan. 4, 1916 2,097,469 Replogle Nov. 2, 1937 2,155,669 Lofgren Apr. 25, 1939 2,269,482 Replogle Jan. 13, 1942 2,355,322 Nuier 1 Aug. 8, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number V Country l Date 280,118 Great Britain Nov. 10, 1927 

